John Tory promises to build Yonge Street Relief line (sometime before 2031), says feds and province must pay up

John Tory says, if elected mayor, he would find a way to build the Yonge Street Relief Line “way before” 2031, and also revealed that his plan to pay for it would assume funding from upper levels of government.

Mr. Tory would not say on Monday if that plan would include proposing taxes, only that he will unveil it after the Ontario Liberals announce their budget.

“I think it would be an abdication of responsibility for [upper levels of government] not to assist us in what is identified by their experts and ours, and by people who travel each day, as the number one project,” said Mr. Tory.

He held a press conference at his campaign headquarters, a stone’s throw from Queen’s Park and Bay Street, ostensibly to criticize Olivia Chow for what he says is an evolving position on transit. Ms. Chow said early on in the mayoral campaign that the relief subway line should be built “eventually” and then that it shouldn’t be an election issue because it’s not slated to be completed until 2031, according to Metrolinx, the regional transit agency. As it stands, the relief line has no funding committed by any level of government.

An eastern leg that would connect the Danforth to the core is pegged at $3.2-billion. The Chow campaign, which has vowed to cancel the Scarborough subway and revert back to a light rail line and expand bus service, wasted no time firing back at Mr. Tory.

“He says he’s ‘been abundantly clear’ that the relief line is his ‘first priority.’ No, he’s not. He has no funding plan and no date,” the campaign stated in a release. “Being abundantly clear isn’t attacking Olivia for correctly saying it’s a long-term project. Being abundantly clear means being abundantly clear—with funding and dates.”

Karen Stintz said Mr. Tory is “so unclear” about how he’s going to finance transit, “he doesn’t stand for anything.” She has proposed selling off half of Toronto Hydro to raise $500-million for the city’s contribution to the relief line. She says she will float other ways the city can pay for transit, but says they will not be taxes or tolls.

Mr. Tory, meanwhile, maintains that revisiting the Scarborough subway would waste time, and divert political attention away from building the relief line. He was not specific on how exactly he would speed up the project, which is in the very early stages at city hall. Bureaucrats will be seeking approval in June to embark on public consultations. If everything goes according to plan, design of the line would not begin until 2016, staff have indicated. Mr. Tory argued that other cities manage to build transit faster than Toronto.

“I’m saying we’ll find a way,” he said. “You find ways to make it happen faster because you have to. People have been waiting too long already. They’re struggling everyday now, let alone 17 years from now,” he said.